An extensive conglomerate of hip-hop pioneers and aficionados came out to Harlem’s Mother AME Zion Church (146 W. 137th St.) on the evening of Thursday, Sept. 17 to pay their respects to fellow legend Kool DJ AJ. A smaller crowd of a select few attended the homegoing services the following morning.Hip-hop’s Founding Father Kool DJ Herc and MCs Busy Bee and Kurtis Blow were among those in attendance.
Earlier this past July, MCs Kurtis Blow and Rahiem, of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, tweeted that their comrade had been diagnosed with stomach cancer. He succumbed to the illness Sept. 8, and the following morning his friend and music partner tweeted the sad news: “RIP to my DJ and friend Kool DJ AJ!!!!”
Others followed suit: @Rahiem_Furious5, “My legendary brother Kool DJ AJ was always a stand-up dude and always treated me like his younger brother…”
Grandmaster Flash @flash4eva, “I put this Dj in front of my biggest crowds in the 70s and he never let me down. Kool Dj Aj he was my support Dj for more years than i can remember The Audubon Ballroom was the Triumph wowwwww I’m gonna miss him”
Big Daddy Kane @officialbigdaddykane, “RIP Kool DJ A.J. My condolences to your family, as well as Busy Bee & Kurtis Blow. UP IN THE BRONX WHERE THE PEOPLE ARE FRESH, THERE WAS ONE DJ WHO COULD PASS THE TEST”
Ice T, Russell Simmons and Funk Flex were among others who also paid homage via Twitter.
Born Aaron O’Bryant on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, he relocated to Jacksonville, Fla., just before becoming a teen after both his parents passed, where he was raised by his grandmother. He then moved to the South Bronx in 1975.
“Many may not know the man, but I’ve known AJ since 1975 … we both came from the South Bronx, AJ St. Mary’s and Moore House, and myself, Vansilk, John Adams but reppin Paterson Projects,” revealed his longtime friend, Vansilk. “He was the blueprint to all hip-hop parties then.”
AJ was an influential source before hip-hop became a multibillion-dollar cash cow for the music industry, developing his reputation as a prominent DJ before he went to see MC Busy Bee perform at the renowned hip-hop venue the Bronx River Center during the late 1970s.
In 1979, AJ helped break Blow’s monumental “Christmas Rappin” during his DJ set at the famed Audubon Ballroom, back when hip-hop was nonexistent on commercial airwaves.
“The next day on the radio, ‘Christmas Rappin’ is playing,” he reflected.
“AJ was DJing with Lovebug Starski and a couple other cats in the Bronx before he started promoting,” recalled DJ Lord Yoda X from Harlem’s legendary Crash Crew, as he recounted the two turntablists’ meeting in 1979.
AJ went on to DJ for Blow and Chief Rocka Busy Bee throughout the 1980s, while also venturing into the business side of music.
“AJ created the hip-hop battles called the MC Convention,” recalled Vansilk. “To this date the now famous hip-hop battle between Kool Mo Dee and Busy Bee was promoted by us and Harlem World!”
On Blow’s seminal 1984 album “Ego Trip,” the MC repaid his DJ while creating the cult-like classic cut, “AJ Scratch.” For many it was the first time they ever heard crisp scratches featured live on wax as the song’s namesake, Kool DJ AJ, displayed his turntable wizardry.
“He was always a cool brother and was always humble,” Yoda recalled. “He played with everybody from [Grandmaster] Flash, to [Grandwizard] Theodore, to [Afrika] Bambaataa. When you mention the pioneering DJs, his name has to be included in that conversation.”
AJ continued DJing into the 1990s, before retiring from hip-hop in 2010.
DJ Marley Marl paid tribute to AJ on his “Golden Era Radio” program on WBLS that following Friday evening, Sept. 11.
Listen to AJ Scratch at www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMesIMN_m1Q.
